32Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
-John 16:32-33 (KJV)
As Jesus was nearing the end of His earthly ministry, He was giving His disciples some last minute teachings. What we see in these two verses of Scripture is some warnings, and some comfort. Let's dig in.
Verse 32 says,"Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone because the Father is with me." Jesus is telling he disciples that the time is now here that they will desert Him. He says they shall be scattered. Scattered in two ways. They will be scattered from one another. They would not be together, they will not be with Jesus. In fear of persecution, or in fear in general, they will run away. I read this in Matthew Henry's Commentary, "Troublous times are times of scattering to Christian societies; in the cloudy and dark day the flock of Christ is dispersed." Secondly, they will be scattered from Jesus. When Jesus was arrested and brought to trial, the disciples were not there to be witnesses for Him. My initial thought is: They spent 3 years with Jesus, learning about the things of the Kingdom, yet when the going got tough, the disciples got going. I just could not understand how they could do that. Then it hit me. When our faith gets tested, or if we get persecuted for our faith, don't we do the same exact thing? Many times, we will leave Jesus at the threat of personal problems.
Look at what Jesus says in verse 33; "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Jesus is teaching them that they will find peace in no other place than in Jesus. They were about to be scattered because of tribulation and trials. Jesus is teaching them that in they world, they will have trouble. It's the same today. When we try to live like or in the world, all it does is bring on trouble of its own. But, in Jesus we have peace. When the storms of life are raging, we have peace in Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." He is leaving peace. Have you received that p
eace today? Or are the storms of life keeping you from finding that peace. Jesus is that source of peace. Why? Because he has overcome the world. Jesus has overcome the trials and difficulties the world offers.
We read in First John 5:4-5; "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" Since Jesus has overcome the world and the problems found there in, then those who have believed in Jesus, have accepted Him as Lord and Savior, have overcome the world as well. We, as Christians, have overcome the tribulations of the world through our faith in Him. Are you living like overcomers? Or, do you allow the troubles, the trials and the tribulations of life to take away the peace that is offered by Jesus? Think About It.
No comments:
Post a Comment